by Stephen Shea

Created on: March 26, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

The best technique for learning new languages that I have found I call "walk-jump-swim."

Step 1: WALK - Walk into a language by getting familiar with its basics. How do you greet people? Does it matter how you're related, what time of day, what you want? This was enough for me to be polite while traveling in France. I learned how to politely address people with basic phrases, and I guess my accent was so comical, they took pity on me and my wife and helped us out. In Paris, no less!

Step 2: JUMP - Jump into as immersive a situation as you can. I studied Spanish for years in school, and made a breakthrough at an immersion weekend. I had the basics - grammar, conjugation, vocabulary - but never before had I had to string it all together for a 24 hour period. It was fun, I grew closer to my friends, and I came away better able to learn more through studying.

Step 3: SWIM - Swim along, preparing for the next dive. After an immersion breakthrough (traveling, intensive class, whatever), redouble your efforts to learn by studying. You can do this while traveling for an extended period. I had an immersion experience - an impromptu debate with a visiting professor - while studying Afrikaans. After that, my studying became more productive, even satisfying.

A note on steps 1 and 3: when I was studying, I found index cards to be the most effective memorization tools. I wrote a word or phrase in one language (let's take Zulu, which I also learned) on one side, and its English translation on the other side.

Then I practiced at every available moment. (Waiting for the coffee to brew. Waiting for a bus. On the bus. That was an extra half hour before class.) I carried my day's worth of cards everywhere, and used them constantly.

I also sifted them into two piles: done, and not done. Every successful match went into the done pile. Until the end of the day, when at bedtime I mixed them all up and started again. The not-dones went into the next day's words, and the dones went into a box on my desk, for later review.

I hope this helps. Espero que esta pagina le ayuda. Ngithemba ukuthi lelo likunika. Ek hoop dat dit kan you halp.

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